University of Massachusetts’ Joya Misra Elected President of the American Sociological Association

Joya Misra, professor of sociology and public policy and director of the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been elected the 115th president of the American Sociological Association. Professor Misra will serve as ASA president-elect for one year before ascending to the organization’s leadership role in August 2023.

Founded in 1905, the ASA is a nonprofit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society.

“I’m so grateful to be elected,” Dr. Misra said. “I’m a second-generation immigrant woman who grew up in the South. I have actively made choices throughout my career to do the work that matters most to me. I am truly moved that other sociologists see my work, my praxis, as valuable, and hopeful about what this means about where the discipline is moving.”

Dr. Misra’s research and teaching primarily focus on social inequality, including inequalities by gender and gender identity, race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, nationality, citizenship, parenthood status, and educational level. She is co-author of the book Walking Mannequins How Race and Gender Inequalities Shape Retail Clothing Work (University of California Press, 2022). She has also served as an editor of the journal Gender & Society.

Professor Misra is a graduate of Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana, where she majored in religion. She holds a master’s degree and a  Ph.D. in sociology from Emory University in Atlanta.